John Stewart on crossfire.
This clip officially made John Stewart my favorite television personality and ended a very long tie for first place with Bill Maher. What I like most about the clip is that he goes onto the show because he is promoting a book, and he ends up denouncing the entire news media.
When I look at America and wonder why the majority of the population ignorant and out of touch with the politics that affect them, I realize that I have to take into account all of the manipulation done by the news media.
The discord occurs because Americans believe that the news media actually wants to help us. As a country, we have a flawed belief that everyone has our best interests in mind. The media, the government, the USDA, the church, they all have their own agenda. Usually their agenda revolves around the acquisition of money, and they use us to attain that money. We assume that the media has our interests in mind and that they would let us know any and all important information. The reality, however, is that they have their own best interests in mind and will go so far as to omit entire viewpoints to protect those interests.
The media makes its money and gains its power thorough ratings and having a large fan base; politics works in a similar fashion. With that being said, it seems like they would be natural soul-mates. Since the news media has no moral obligation to its public, besides a self-imposed one, entire media entities have been set up with solely political basis.
Is this bad or wrong?
Not really since there is enough information available that people should do their own research and come to their own conclusions rather than sitting around waiting for someone else to tell them what to think. Unfortunately, this is America.
